Dr. Leroy Chiao PhD, Former NASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander joins Thom. Earlier today – at 3:18 Greenwich Mean Time – NASAs “Juno” spacecraft successfully reached Jupiter and entered the gas giants orbit. Scott Bolton – principle investigator for the Juno mission described his relief when orbit was achieved – telling The Guardian that “There’s a mixture of tension and anxiety because this is such a critical manoeuvre … The rocket motor has to burn at the right time, in the right direction, for just the right amount of time.” It took the spaceship 5 years to make the 1.8 billion mile trip from Earth to Jupiter and The Juno probe is equipped with 29 sensors and 9 instruments that will study the planet for the next 20 months. The probe will be making a map of the planet before its instruments finally fail and the probe falls to Jupiter’s surface.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with the solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter. After five years of travelling in deep space, the craft will soon orbit the planet. RT America’s Manuel Rapalo breaks down some of the most fascinating science at play in the mission.